Description of the attraction
The Shalamovsky House in Vologda is a two-story mansion located on Sergei Orlov Street behind the St. Sophia Cathedral and built in the 18th century. From the very beginning, the house was in the power of the Vologda diocese and was used as a living quarters for the employees of the St. Sophia Cathedral. It was in this house that on June 18, 1907, Varlam Tikhonovich Shalamov, the famous author of the Kolyma Tales, who lived in the house until the fall of 1924, was born into the family of a priest.
In 1990, a memorial plaque was hung in front of the building's entrance, the author of which was Fedot Suchkov, a sculptor from Moscow and a close friend of Shalamov. Fedot Suchkov became the author of the portrait of Shalamov, made during the writer's lifetime, and of his gravestone at the Kuntsevo cemetery in Moscow.
A memorial exposition in the Shalamov house was opened in 1991 on the first floor. At that time, the famous writer lived in a house with his family. In his autobiographical story "The Fourth Vologda", written in 1968, Varlam Tikhonovich mentioned the apartment in which his father once lived - Tikhon Nikolayevich Shalamov, who is a priest of the Vologda diocese and lives in an apartment with his family immediately after their return to the Orthodox Alaska missions of 1894-1904. The writer's father lived with Varlam's mother, Nadezhda Alexandrovna Shalamova, until the 1920s.
At the moment, it is almost impossible to recreate the everyday life of the Shalamov family. Therefore, the main task of the exposition was the emotional impact on the spectator present; in this context, it became decisive to give a brighter and more complete impression not only of fate and life, but also of the literary contribution to the poetry of V. T. Shalamov.
The first exposition occupied an area of 11, 9 square meters, and its authors were the artist Pakhomov A. V., art critic Vorono M. N. and photographer Donin S. V.. On the central part of the wall there was a fragment of a fresco in the Vologda St. Sophia Cathedral; photographs were presented at the stands. In 1994, the first exposition was dismantled. At the same time, the hall was re-equipped by the famous designer Ievlev S. M. designed by Vorono M. N. into a kind of chamber-room, the coloristic solution of which was intended to convey all the hard part of Shalamov's fate during the time of political repression. In the center of the wall there was a fragment of a larch trunk, which was brought from Kolyma by an admirer of Shalamov's talent - VV Esipov; on the right and left sides there are stands with the biography of the writer and his famous quotes from his works. The adjacent hall was decorated with stands describing the writer's literary activity; in the same room there was a bookcase with Varlam Tikhonovich's books.
By the 100th anniversary of the birth of Shalamov, which was celebrated in 2007, the exposition was significantly reconstructed by Rozhina R. A. and Rozhina A. V., who are devoted fans of the writer's work. The cell room remained intact, only new stands with biographical materials were made, and some of them were placed on the first floor in the corridor.
The memorial exposition of the writer consists of iconographic materials with photographs of the writer of different years, biographical materials presented by photocopies of photographs, materials not only about relatives, but also about friends of the writer, typological objects and personal belongings of Varlam Tikhonovich.
The exposition is suitable for all visitors of all ages. A video film dedicated to the famous writer can be watched in the Shalamovsky House. For many years, not only on the birthday of June 18, but also on the day of death on January 17, commemoration evenings dedicated to Varlam Shalamov have been held here. Based on the materials presented in the exposition, the booklet "Varlam Shalamov" was published in 2002, the compiler and the author of the introductory article of which was Vorono MN. The booklet also includes the autobiographical story of the famous author "The Fourth Vologda". By the 100th anniversary of the birth of the writer Varlam Tikhonovich Shalamov, a scientific catalog of the museum exhibition “Varlam Shalamov and his time in the fine arts” was published.
In addition to the memorial exposition in the museum, you can visit one of the exhibition halls of the Vologda art gallery, which houses a permanent exhibition of Russian and Western European art of the 16th - early 20th centuries. This exposition appeared as a result of the transfer of works from the funds of the Ministries of Culture of the Soviet Union and the RSFSR, the storehouses of the Union of Artists and assistance from the country's largest art repositories - the State Tretyakov Gallery and the State Russian Museum, Nizhny Novgorod and Saratov art museums.
